Machines



3 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. VON KUNOWSKI. KEYBOARD FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

No. 556.422. Patented Mar. 17 1896.

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A. VON KUNOWSKI. KEYBOARD FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

No. 556,422. Patented Mar. 17, 1896.-

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A. VON KUNOWSKI.

KEYBOARD FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES. No. 556,422. Patented Mar. 17, 1896.

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ANDREW BYGRAHAM. PHOTWUMQWASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

ALBRECHT VON KUNOIVSKI, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

KEYBOARD FOR TYPE-WRITING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,422, dated March1'7, 1896.

Application filed March 1 5, 1 8 9 3.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBRECHT VON KU- NowsKI, a subject of the GermanEmperor, and a resident of Berlin, Germany, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Keyboards for Type-\Vritin g Machines andSimilar Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

The keyboards for type-writing machines commonly used have thedisadvantage that on account of the rectangular or semicircular shape ofthe board in actuating the type-writing machine the lower arm has to beshifted, because the keys cannot be reached by the sole movement of thefingers while the arm is at rest. This disadvantage is avoided in theso-called stenographic type -writing machines, in which the keys arearranged in two curved lines symmetrically to the center line of thekeyboard. Arrangements of this kind, however, permit of employing only acomparatively restricted number of keys and therefore cannot be used forordinary typewriting machines.

My invention relates to an improved keyboard, in which bothinconveniences are obviated by arranging the keys in four curved lines,which I call guiding-lines, the two innermost of which are theguiding-lines of the thumbsand correspond to a curve described by thepoint of the thumb when spreading it away from the hand. The two outerguiding-lines have a configuration which is about the same as that of aline drawn through the points of the four fingers of the hand placed inthe most convenient position upon a plane surface. Secondly, I place themain keys, which correspond to the mostly-used characters, exactlycoincident with the said guiding-lines and make them of a greater sizethan is given to the by-keys, which correspond to the less-usedcharacters, and which I place partly before and partly behind the mainkeys. The by-keys lying on the farther side of the main keys arepreferably elevated in position. By arranging the keys in this mannerall of them can be touched and depressed by the sole movement of thefingers while the hand may be at rest on a special cushion. Type-writingmachines with my improved keyboard can therefore be used even by blindpersons, because the variety Serial No. 466,156. (No model.)

of the size of the keys gives a sufficient direction for actuating them.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a diagram of the keyboard, showing, by way of example, theusual number of keys-that is to say, forty-eight keys with eighty-eighttypes are provided. Fig. 2 is a combined plan View and section ofthekeyboard in connection with a system of type-writers actually much inusei. 6., the socalled Yostsystem. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsection of the same machine.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

In the construction shown in Fig. l the number of types is adapted tothe usual one-that is to say, forty-eight keys with eighty-eight typesare provided. On each side of the keys are cushions on which the rearpart of the palm of the hand is so placed that the lower parts form anangle of about ninety degrees with each other, this being their mostconvenient position. The cushions K are somewhat raised, so that thehand lies free above the keys. The latter are, in the example shown,arranged on or close to the above-mentioned guidingcurves in positionscorresponding to the four fingers and the thumb, as determined, on theone hand, by the anatomy and physiology of the hand, and on the otherhand by the constructions of the language-that is to say, the keys forthe letters mostly used are placed in those positions on which the pointof the strongest and most agile fingers rest or which they can easilyreach. Thus, for example, the vowels and diphthon gs are apportioned tothe thumbs,the most used e, and i, being in the best positions. The keysfor the consonants (and if necessary also the spacekeys) are apportionedto the fingers. Those most frequently used occupy the best places on theguidingcurves, which correspond to the most convenient (slightly-bent)positions of those fingers. The less-used letters are arranged on thesubsidiary keys, as are also the numerals and other seldom-used symbols.

In the arrangement shown the diagram for the right hand is shown forgreater clearness. The fingers with the turning-points 1 to 5 aresituated, when in the most convenient position of rest, at those pointswhich are indicated by the lines drawn in full and ending with a cross.The points of the fingers therefore rest upon the main keys. Byspreading or moving inward or outward the fingers the subsidiary keysmarked with circles can be reached, the fingers being then made toassume the positions indicated by dotted lines.

The reversing-key Rev. and the spacekey Sp. are advantageouslyduplicated.

The relative positions of the types shown on the drawings are onlyindicated as examples for my invention. I donot, however, limit myselfto this or any other arrangement of types.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention, I declare that what I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is-

1. A keyboard for type-writing machines and similar apparatus, havingthe keys arranged in two symmetrically-placed groups, one on each sideof the center line of the keyboard and each consisting of two out groupsarranged in curves corresponding to the guiding-lines of the fourfingers and the thumbs, respectively, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

2. A keyboard for type-writing machines and similar apparatus having thekeys arranged in two symmetrically-placed groups, one on each side ofthe center line of the keyboard and each consisting of two subgroupsarranged in curves corresponding to the guiding-lines of the fourfingers and the thumbs, respectively, the main keys corresponding to themostly-used characters, lying exactly in such guiding-lines and being ofgreater size than the by-keys in the neighborhood of such guiding-lines,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A keyboard for type-writing machines and similar apparatus, havingthe keys arranged in two symmetrically-placed groups, one on each sideof the center line of the keyboard and each consisting of two subgroupsarranged in curves corresponding to the guiding-lines of the fourfingers and the thumbs, respectively, the keys arranged on the fartherside of the board being elevated substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

ALBRECHT VON KUNOWSKI.

it-messes PAUL AULICH, REINHOLD \VEIDNER.

